Philip's Story

In 1999 at age 64 I was just about ready to throw in the towel.

Back in 1968 at age 32 working on 33, I had a very dramatic religious experience that changed my life. With my new faith, my life changed from being an overweight, alcoholic, totally selfish womanizer, chewing on 3 packs of Camels a day, to someone who really wanted to get his act together and hopefully help others to do that as well.

I began a second 32 year journey with the understanding that I had been created body, soul and spirit and each was important to take care of. I saw that what I put into me, was what I would become. I needed to watch what food I took into each of these areas and learn how to become fit….. body, soul and spirit.

The church was taking care of my spirit needs. I began to change the things I put into my soul, what I was reading, the things I watched on TV, the movies I saw and how I thought about things. My worldview began to change pretty dramatically.

I began to run, first a few blocks, then finally a half mile. In a few months I was running 3 miles, then 5 or 6. I started racing until eventually I was running marathons. With that, we started to look at eating better, getting our veggies, watching the ice cream, taking vitamins and food supplements.

In the process, I discovered the more I ran, the more I could cheat. I got away with it until I hit 50. I would play some basketball or run a little harder and things started breaking down. Healing was taking 3 weeks instead of 3 days, the weight started going back on and you all know how that begins to go. Each year a little bit older, a little bit heavier, able to do less, running out of energy much earlier on…….and you start to give up a little. It's just old age setting in, I would say and you can't beat it. I wasn't sick a lot, just discouraged because I loved all the physical stuff, taking care of my house, gardens and lawn. At 60 my knees had quit, I decided not to have the operation and just hang in there till I couldn't take the pain any more. We moved into our new house and seriously considered putting our bedroom on the first floor because I was sure that in 5 more years I wouldn't be able to climb the stairs any more.

5 years later, a whole bunch of stuff was happening in our lives. It was 1999, and I was getting tired of battling all the time. The roughest one was my wife coming down with rheumatoid arthritis. After trying the doctor, the medication being regularly increased and increased, my wife feeling worse and worse, we decided to stop the medication, and depend on prayer and nutrition. We made a commitment to each other that we would work together to change our lifestyle, primarily what we ate.

It worked. The doctor said Ellen would be deformed if she stopped her medication. She is not deformed. All the swelling, bumps, lumps and pain disappeared. We made some other changes, I came out of my depression and frustration and we were both very thankful.

I was still battling my weight, my energy came and went, I kept cutting down on my exercise regimen and going through a variety of muscle/ligament breakdowns as I did all the physical stuff connected with running our Bed & Breakfast. Then in January of 2004, Ellen started swelling up again. A friend of ours told us Jordan Rubin's incredible story of his battle with Crohn's Disease and how he started Garden of Life to help others find a life of wellness. We picked up a bottle of his inflammation product and within 3 days the swelling disappeared.

I was so excited for her that I started taking his products myself. Within a few months, my whole life was turned upside down. It has just consistently gotten better as the months roll by. I am full of energy, doing things I haven't been able to do in 15 years, no injuries to anything, no more struggle with the weight, exercising more every day instead of less, blood pressure is 120/80, cholesterol 167, no sugar problems, no prostate problems, no medications, no sickness (not even a cold since 1999) and full of excitement about being able to help others find what I have found.

This is being written at age 69*. Half my graduating class of 1952 are deceased. 65% of our population is overweight (27% considered obese, I was one of them). Every disease is on the rise. 4000 people are dying prematurely every day. I am convinced that it doesn't have to be that way.

Spend a weekend with me one on one. I will do everything I can to motivate you to change your lifestyle, show you what I am doing and help you to make a 3 month commitment to wellness that will change your life.

Use the time as a weekend escape to Vermont….the most beautiful state in the union... :) ... and enjoy the warmth and peace here in our wonderful 1890's Victorian Bed and Breakfast Inn.

* A couple more years have passed... it's 2007... I’m 72 now and it just keeps getting better. Ellen has retired from teaching to join me in this “great adventure” here! We enjoy our 1300 or more guests each year, have added a Lake Cottage to the adventure, our new Gift Shoppe, and our very exciting “afternoon teas”.....Ellen being here all the time now also makes it more possible for the old fella to get in 9 holes of golf between shifts...:) What did she just say? "How about putting our gift shoppe up online?"

2008 Update

This year I will celebrate birthday number 73 with the only blip on the screen experiencing a cold for the first time in what seems like forever. With the addition of the ANNEX last year we came pretty close to 1500 guests that came thru, which translates into many 7am, 8am and 9am seatings for breakfast during foliage and holidays. I crashed for 2 days after foliage, kind of sick-tired and thought I was getting a cold but didn’t. Same thing happened when all the holidays guests left beginning of January..... only this time I got the cold. The good news is it left in 4 days. Ellen and I are really enjoying our “great adventure together”, the online gift shoppe is a reality and even bringing in some orders.... :) My golf game is improving. I am having a blast with my personal Blog and our new “together Blog”. Oh –Oh - there’s her voice again.....something about “really working on fixing up the Lake Cottage this year”...... Oh well..... I guess we just need something to do to keep us busy.... :)

2010 Update

The years do keep flying by... and we seem to be able to just keep flying along with them. I will turn 75 this year. Lots of crazy things have been happening since my last update on my story... :) Check out our two recent Newsletters for some of those stories.... about business... about the Annex... about my health.... for a blow by blow report on the health front there is even more information on my blog.

I am looking forward to Spring and seeing how I am swinging the old golf clubs this year... can't hardly wait ... enjoying some renewed vigor now after getting my heart zapped back into rhythm 2 weeks ago.... continuing to have the time of our lives here running the B&B... the cutbacks are very good cutbacks... the gift shoppe is doing well both on and off line... :) Ellen continues to do her Tea Parties. The Lake Cottage has been more than just "fixed up"... gotta love it!